Housejoy rejigs laundry service operations in Delhi, Bengaluru

Online home services provider Housejoy said it stopped its laundry services "temporarily" in most areas of Bengaluru and Delhi NCRAvik Das | TNN | June 27, 2016, 18:39 IST

Online home services provider Housejoy said it stopped its laundry services "temporarily" in most areas of Bengaluru and Delhi NCR as it attempts to minimize cost in an environment where startups face pressure from investors to reduce cash burn and improve profitability. Online home services provider Housejoy said it stopped its laundry services "temporarily" in most areas of Bengaluru and Delhi NCR as it attempts to minimize cost in an environment where startups face pressure from investors to reduce cash burn and improve profitability.

"Earlier the unit economics was not a focus. Until we figure out the playbook we cannot afford to keep burning cash, so we clamped down; once we figure it out, we will bring back the service," chief executive Saran Chatterjee told TOI.

As part of the process, the company, backed by serial entrepreneur K Ganesh and his wife Meena, is currently operating only in Bengaluru's central belt, such as Koramangala, Indiranagar, HSR Layout and Domlur, and has "shut down everything else."

In Delhi NCR, the company is providing its laundry services in Gurgaon and south Delhi while it has stopped in the eastern part of the capital and Noida. It was not immediately clear whether Housejoy's other services such as home cleaning, pest control and plumbing have been affected.

Chatterjee, who was previously vice president of Flipkart, added the company is experimenting in laundry to understand whether it can generate clustered demands in specific locations. "We are trying to generate hyperlocal demand and minimize the cost," he said.

Asked whether the company would shut down laundry services, Chatterjee said Housejoy was very much in the game. "But we live in such environments that if a model doesn't work, there is no point in keeping it running."